Death Valley 2015, Round 2

We met up with Jeanne's ma (Yvonne), and Gary and all stayed at the Sunset campground in Furnace Creek for 8 days at $12 per night (Gary got it for $6, a senior discount) for a no hook-up campsite with fresh water, a dump station, and flush toilets available. The weather this time was great, a little cloudy for a couple of days, a little blustery at times, but overall cool and enjoyable. The campground had paved roads and large gravel sites. The visitor’s center was across the street, as was the Furnace Creek Ranch, which contained a general store, a couple of restaurants, cabins for rent, and the Borax museum. The coyotes did not bother us much, only heard them in the campground on a couple of nights. Death Valley N.P. is very large and there is a lot of driving to do for the spread out sights to see. 

Sunset Campground at Furnace Creek.

Our first stop was the Harmony Borax Works. It is touted as one of the first borax operations in the valley, operating in the late 1800‘s. Of all the mining throughout the history of Death Valley, borax was the most profitable. Here at Harmony are the remnants of that processing plant.  

What is left of the Harmony Borax Works.

A closer view...

Jeanne, Yvonne, and Gary in front of a 20-mule team wagon set up.

This time around we made it to Scotty’s Castle in the north. We walked around the exterior on our own, opting not to pay for the guided tour through the interior. The castle is a very large spanish style ranch plopped down in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It was interesting to see that, being built back during the Depression years, they had solar power technology back then, they had put a solar system in for the water heating behind the house. While we were there, a couple of coyotes were prowling around the picnic area looking for Scooby snacks. We took the short walk uphill to visit Death Valley Scotty’s grave which overlooks the castle and has a good view of the surrounding valleys.

Wile E. Coyote looking for Scooby snacks.

The front view of Scotty's Castle.

At the rear of the castle, you can see the water tank at right and the solar heating system remnants directly in front and below the tank.

Death Valley Scotty's grave marker. Strange history behind this man, he did not actually own the castle, he was only the caretaker for a millionaire who he conned, was found out, then continued a friendly relationship with...

View of Scotty's Castle from his gravesite.

A closer front view.

After leaving Scotty’s Castle, we veered over to Ubehebe Crater. It was a short walk up to the rim and a pretty scenic view. The crater was formed by volcanic activity---ground water was heated to steam and pressure built up until it exploded to create the crater. Amazing was nature will create...

Ubehebe Crater

"OK, who stole all the colors?"

I guess this is not a good location to play "pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey"---watch your step!

Badwater Basin is the lowest point of land in the U.S. (actually, in the western hemisphere) at 282’ below sea level. It is a big, flat plain at the bottom of the valley and when you look up at the mountain along the highway you see the words “sea level” marking that measurement on the mountain.

The sea level marker waaaaaaay up on the mountain.

Yvonne, me, and Gary just chillin' "under the water".

We still had a bit of snow on nearby mountains, but nice weather in Death Valley.

Next on our agenda was the Natural Bridge. That is a short hike up a canyon with some spectacular formations and dried up waterfalls.

Jeanne, Gary, and Yvonne taking a break on this short hike to Natural Bridge.

Jeanne and her mom standing in a dry waterfall tube.

"Hooray, we made it to the bridge!"

Yvonne and Gary inside another "dryfall".

The Artist’s Palette drive is always a must-see. In these narrow, windy roads through the hills the mountains look like somebody splashed bright paints all over them (not limited to Artist’s Palette, ALL of the surrounding mountains to Death Valley have to be some of the most colorful mountains in the country, if not world!).

The Artist's Palette.

Some of the strange formations found in the Artist's Palette drive.

The Golden Canyon Trail is very cool as well. The surrounding canyon walls and hills are a bright golden color with unique and interesting formations. We took the short walk, ending at the Red Cathedral, but there is a longer, about 4 mile loop hike that nears Zabriskie Point (which was closed during our visit this time due to construction work to repair erosion/damage to the viewing area).

"We're climbing through THAT?!"

Cruising through Golden Canyon.

"Why do you suppose they call this Golden Canyon?"

Gary, Yvonne, and Jeanne in the canyons.

The approach to Red Cathedral.

Jeanne conquered the hike to Red Cathedral.

Yeah, we made Gary and Yvonne climb rocks too!

"Hey, hey, hey you two, get a room!"

The Titus Canyon drive is a must when visiting D.V. It is a bit of a rough dirt road (4-wheel and high clearance advised), it is about 27 +/- miles long, takes about 3 hours to traverse, and winds through the ghost town of Leadfield. Scenic, scenic, scenic, ‘nuff said.

Titus Canyon views.

Most colorful...

Leadfield, a ghost town in Titus Canyon.

4-wheel beauty.

Toward the end of Titus Canyon drive. The end has the skinnier canyon trails...

On the way to Mosaic Canyon, we made a quick stop at the Mesquite Flat Dunes, a large area of sand dunes which looks out of place in Death Valley. Mosaic Canyon is another short hike up a narrow canyon area with awesome formations. Jeanne sweated it out whether her mom and Gary could make the hike(s), but they showed her how the cow ate the cabbage.

Gary, Yvonne, and Jeanne on the Mesquite dunes. Nice shot of mountains in background.

Walking Mosaic Canyon. Well, we walked. Jeanne danced...

Plugging away in Mosaic Canyon.

Platoon leader Jeanne taking charge of our march.

Atlas…times 3.

Help! I'm stuck up here!

Lots of different formations in Mosaic Canyon.

We finished off our time in Death Valley with a disappointing day of playoff football, then bid our farewells. We headed back to Pahrump to clean up and re-stock for our next adventure, which will be at...

The Desert in the wintertime...

Merry Christmas everybody and Happy New Years to y’all while we’re at it. We had a very good time having Christmas at Chad and Crissy’s house in Atascadero. Jenn and Max came and spent the holiday with us. Chad had quite a collection of toys which kept us non-stop busy with the Gladiator (Max). From remote controlled drone flyers to remote controlled ATV fighters to high capacity NERF shotguns...Max was a kid in a toy store. I was a bit peeved that I was unable to fully enjoy this family time because I had picked up a nasty head cold, but I tried my best.

Good ol' Rock-em Sock-em Robots. The past lives on...

To work off the awesome BBQ rib dinner Chad put on, they took us to the Bishop Peak Natural Area, a sort of donated-to-the-county mountain park with hiking trails. This was a several hour endeavor and a medium strenuous level which got a bit frustrating with Max because he wanted to be carried the whole time. It turned into quite a workout and the view at the “top of the world” was spectacular. Jenn suffered a minor mishap while carrying Max during the downhill return, she fell and smacked her elbow pretty good. No broken bones though, just a lot of pain and minor swelling.

What's left of the XMAS cookie tray leads to...

…this serious warning sign!

The wild bunch getting ready to hike to the "Top of the World".

Well, at least Max started out under his own power...

Max, Uncle Bubba, and Oma monkeying in a tree.

Oops, didn't take Max long to con a ride.

Hooray for us!

"Look, Ma, no hands!"

One of the few times WE conned Max into running on his own power.

Max and his Mom at the Top of the World.

Chad peeks over the top rock at us.

View from the Top...

We also made a trip to Avila Beach and a stop at the farmer’s market/petting zoo on the way. Max got to feed the animals (I think his mom had more fun doing that) and then he JUST HAD to have pizza for lunch, so we stopped at a pizza place in Avila Beach.

"Don't feed him your fingers, Max!"

"Do I look guilty or what?"

Jenn had more fun feeding critters than Max!

At the pier in Avila Beach.

The coastline at Avila Beach.

Strolling the pier.

Merry Christmas everyone! From the farmer's market...

Again, all good things must come to an end, so it was “See ya later” to the family and back to “Jo Jo” Hills to pack up and prep for our next adventure. This is the only draw back to full-timing... WE MISS OUR KIDS and their families. Good thing someone invented Facetime.

True boondocking. That was next on our agenda. We decided to head out to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park which surrounds Borrego Springs. We had pre-scouted the area previously, taking the Jeep over the Montezuma Valley pass. That was an extremely steep and long mountain road and I was concerned about taking the bus over it. Thankfully, we spoke with one of our Jo Jo Hills neighbors and he mentioned an easier way for the motorhome, taking the Yaqui Pass off Hwy. 78 off Road S2. We took Yaqui Pass-it was still a bit steep and narrow but a lot shorter than Montezuma Valley...much easier travel. We found a common area for boondockers in the Clark Dry Lake area between Rockhouse Trail and mile marker 27 on Road S22. I use the term “boondockers” loosely here. My version of true boondocking is somewhere in the sticks with nobody around. Here, the boondockers were thicker than flies, some non-groups parked on top of each other. There must have been at least 50 rigs in about a half square mile area. 

Our boondock site in Borrego Springs at  Clark Dry Lake bed.

Our desert neighbors...

Jeanne getting things squared away.

There are quite a lot of activities/sights within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We only planned to stay about a week (which is what we actually stayed as it turned out), depending on the status of our gray and black tanks (this being our first actual boondocking experience excluding overnight stopovers), so we only experienced a fraction of the sights and sounds of what the park offered. First stop was the park Visitor Center for all the info we could get on the park. The booklet they give out has some crude maps with general locations of points of interest, and as we discovered during our stay, the state of California gets an “F” for signage as far as those points of interest are concerned.

The wind caves was our first exploration here. They are outside of Ocotillo Wells off Split Mountain Rd. on Fish Creek Wash. The teeny-tiny sign that points out the trailhead to the wind caves is easy to pass by without seeing, as we did. But we guess-timated the right area and ended up hiking up the back side of the steep shale mountain to the caves. Very cool formations and very dismaying to find piggy people had found their way  up and left their mark on this natural wonder (graffiti). @$$holes who do this should be shot on sight and left for wildlife consumption. This hike was about a 2 mile round trip. The drive into Fish Creek Wash was pretty scenic as well.

The wind caves at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Someone built a fire inside this cave.

Jeanne after conquering the ugly climb straight uphill. Notice evidence of graffiti at left, #&%@!!!

4-wheel master Jeanne feeling her oats in canyons on way to wind caves.

Scenic canyon to drive through.

Walk through cave.

More graffiti on caves. No respect...

Fonts Point was also pretty spectacular, particularly at sunset. This is an area about 4 miles off Road S22 and evokes thoughts of the Grand Canyon. The viewing area has no guard rails, just a steep drop off into the abyss. And the majestic beauty of the rock formations is awe inspiring.

Sunset at Fonts Point. Nice view of the full moon rising in the east.

More of the sunset over the canyons.

Backside color changes during sunset.

Dramatic skies over the Borrego Sink.

Around the town of Borrego Springs there are 2 separate areas of a property called Galleta Meadows. These are private open area properties that are open to the public. The owner allowed a local artist out of Temecula, Ricardo Breceda, to create sculptures and display them scattered about the properties. The most popular one is of the serpent. We tracked down most of the art, it gave Jeanne more opportunity to display her 4-wheelin’ mojo in the Jeep. No captions necessary, art is art...

Just prior to entering Borrego Springs on Montezuma Valley Rd. we found the trail for Hellhole Canyon/Maidenhair Falls. This is a 6 mile round tripper through thick Ocotillo and Cholla cacti to a small canyon with several oases, one of which contains a waterfall area. We loaded up the camelbacks/back packs and set out up the canyon. This hike was strenuous at times, a lot of large rock climbing/shin busting involved. Unfortunately, upon arrival to the falls we found them but a drip off the maidenhair ferns (yeah, California is still in the grips of a severe drought). But it was a very nice hike anyway...

They take their warnings seriously, signage over grave sites.

Looking through one of the oases toward the valley.

Maidenhair Falls, not much falling.

While here in the desert we drove on in to the Salton City/Salton Sea area, about 20 miles from our campsite. There outside of Salton City is the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area. Holy Dust Cloud, Batman! Evidently, the 1st week of the new year is the busy time here. In this VRA folks cram their rigs on top of each other while they boondock camp and operate their ATV’s, dirt bikes, and any other make of offroad vehicle through the desert and desert canyons. It was VERY packed, and not my idea of wanting to ATV in an offroad version of the L.A. freeway system at quitting time! (Later, on our way out of California and during the work week, this VRA was pretty much a ghost town, much more preferable for an enjoyable off road experience).

One of the canyons leading from the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, note campers in far distance behind Jeanne.

One of the ATV canyons.

Our time boondocking in the desert came to an end after 7 days. We left heading into Salton City on Road S22. I have one major note of caution for other bus drivers on this road.  Once past the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation area, still on S22, the road itself is not bad...until you come within about 3-4 miles of Salton City. There, you NEED to slow way down, the road suddenly includes many major dips that will easily scramble the contents of your rig. If you think you are slowed down enough, you need to slow down MORE!  The contents of my closet got tossed to the closet floor, all items, without exception!  

From the desert we headed into Pahrump, NV, for a return stay at the SKP park there, Pair-a-Dice, for thorough cleansing, restocking, and preparation to meet Jeanne’s mom and her boyfriend, Yvonne and Gary, at Death Valley for some more boondocking time at Furnace Creek. Until then...